Airman goes viral for pumping breast milk during triathlon
SUMMARY
When Jaime Sloan realized that she was on pace to set a personal record at the Ironman 70.3 in Tempe, Arizona in October 2018, she decided not to stop to pump breast milk as she had planned. Instead, the 34-year-old Air Force Staff Sergeant pumped while running, placing the milk in a CamelBak water bottle which she carried for the remainder of the race.
"I had brought my hand pump and I just decided to go for it. I was making good time and I just didn't want to stop and lose the time on my race," explained the mom of two, who gave birth to her second child back in March 2018. She admitted that she was "nervous at first that I would get some weird looks or even get disqualified due to nudity, but I did my best to cover up and make it work."
At first, a couple of people were concerned, mistaking her breastfeeding cloth as bandages. But once they realized what she was doing, Sloan says the reactions were very positive, adding, "I did get some looks from women but they were just big smiles."
And pumping certainly didn't slow the active duty airman down. With her husband, Zachary, and daughter Henley, 2, cheering her on, Sloan finished the race (which includes swimming for 1.2 miles, biking for 56 miles and then running 13.1 miles) in six hours, 12 minutes and 44 seconds — a full 30 minutes faster than her previous best.
Sloan, who has also completed 2 full Ironman races in the past, wants other women to realize that if she can do it, they can, too: "I hope that [my story] can encourage other women and mothers and really anyone who has a lot going on in their lives. No matter what, if someone believes they can do something, they can make it happen because it is possible."
This article originally appeared on Fatherly. Follow @FatherlyHQ on Twitter.
